Current biochemistry PhD student that took biochem I pass/fail (skipped biochem II) in undergrad due to tight scheduling with my music degree. Not one soul asked me about it. I highly doubt anyone from a genetics/biomedical science program will care about you not taking organic II. But if you take it and get a C...a lower GPA could be a deciding factor down the road.

To add to your list, Michigan's biomedical sciences program (PIBS) doesn't require the GRE anymore and ranks quite highly. As for categorizing or ranking them, I'd imagine each schools' competitiveness is comparable to last year's, if not more competitive, due to more applicants since getting rid of the GRE. I'd pay attention to the schools' past statistics on their websites, US news rankings, and available information on this forum. Good luck! And if you stick with this list, 10-12 applications is not abnormal, so it might be worth a deep dive into all of them to find your research interests.

I'm considering the Amazon fire HD 10 for this, for a cheap price point (~$115 right now, or $90 on prime day next month). I've only used others' for a short period, though, so I'm not sure how it would fare day-to-day.

This depends a lot on where you're living and where all you need to get to. Regardless, if you're looking for a city you can fully experience via bus/bike/foot, Nashville isn't it. If you live within biking distance of campus--and you just want to be able to go to class, get your groceries, and hit up a few restaurants and bars--that's totally do-able. You'll probably have a cohort with cars, if you're okay with depending on them for group outings. Just don't expect the buses to EVER be on time.

I'd talk to the admissions coordinator about your situation. They'll be able to tell you what's normal for their program, plus that'll mean that at least one person is looking out for your application.

You've got quite the spread of programs here, with some neuroscience and some completely different. Are you wanting to continue in neuro or branch into something else? If you want to keep your options open, it may be wise to apply to the schools' umbrella programs when available, instead. Baylor has a separate umbrella program (IMBS), as does Northwestern (IBiS or DGP, for the respective campuses). You'd be able to rotate in any department's labs. As for Emory, they don't have an umbrella, so you'll be picking your top two for possible interviews. As you can probably tell, I applied to a several of these schools, so let me know if you have any specific questions.

Hi! I was also heavily involved in my sorority, and included it on my applications. I would highly suggest you include it, especially if those are your only leadership positions while in college. When ( both male and female) interviewers asked me about being president of my sorority, it was always in an open-minded "what did you learn?" kind of way. That's when you talk about learning collaboration, speaking skills, etc.
For the GRE, your scores would not hurt you. They're very good. As far as it being a waste of money on scores reports, I truly have no idea, given that schools that make it optional probably don't weigh it heavily at all. With your GPA being slightly below average, it could help to reinforce that your major was just really hard.
Make sure to know the ins and outs of your new project, when it comes to research statements/interviews. Since you said you're unsure about the rec letter coming out of this, show your PI that you have it all together when collecting, sharing, and especially presenting data. You may lack the excitement and motivation to work on this project, but if you can exemplify discipline, that's much more valuable. Motivation will fade before you have your PhD, but discipline is what will get you to the finish line. Then tell your PI to frame the letter as you being a very disciplined and talented scientist, even when you're not interested in the specifics (just imagine how well she'll do in a field she actually likes)!

I'd add Colorado (if you're talking about Denver, they're known quite well for immunology in particular, but they're technically an R2, I believe. All I know about UC Boulder is that it's an R1 that ranks much higher generally). Another "second tier" school might be Vanderbilt. Perhaps look into Notre Dame if you're okay with living in the sticks (but hella $$$). And, of course, if you want the hook up for someone in the immunology department at Baylor, I'd be happy to give you some student contact info.

I love Story Collider and Hello PhD both! I definitely recommend scrolling through the episode titles for Hello PhD; the discussions are very useful, but can also be very situational to different seasons of grad/science life. For my science news, I listen to AAAS's Science Magazine podcast.

From what I've seen (Southerner here), everyone wears pants pretty consistently, but those are often jeans or leggings. A girl in a neighboring H. pylori lab wears shorts all the time, but she also handles things without gloves and we judge her hardcore for both. I'd just wear pants and if you're NOT working with an infectious disease and other people show up to lab in shorts, it's probably acceptable to wear shorts.

Magoosh has a free vocabulary flashcard app (called "GRE vocabulary flashcards"), hundreds upon hundreds of words. That's all I used for vocab. Maybe try it and see if it helps you as much as writing them down!

For note-taking (not so great for writing papers, since you don't have the full version of word), I've loved my chromebook. I got a lenovo for about $160 two years ago, and it's holding up fine. The battery life is about 7-8 hours.